Mobile Suit Gundam - Senjo no Kizuna REV 3 is released today. This major update features some changes in the cockpit: Bandai Namco wanted to make the game more immersive by improving sreen display (more info are displayed) and sound (especially weapons and explosions). Another new feature is BANA Passport use: previous IC cards data are transferred to the BANA Passport (the player must acquire one at the first game if he doesn't already own one) and data of the two factions (Earth Federation and Zeon) can be saved both on the same card. Futhermore, by registering on BANA Passport website, a player who lost his card can recover data on a new card. In terms of gameplay, changes have been made: players are divided by class and now they fight against other players of the same class. To move to the upper class, he will have to pass a promotion! And a player whose performance is in decline will be retrograded ... Winning battles grants victory points to purchase new Gundam (availability depending on player's level).

In June, Taito has announced being working on Darius Burst - Another Chronicle EX but there weren't any informations about the game available. It's actually a big update of Darius Burst - Another Chronicle that will be held in two phases: the 1st one (Ver.1.13) is released tomorrow and the 2nd one (Ver.1.14) will be out later but there's still no date scheduled. There are Ver.1.13 main features: enhanced graphics, new ships in original modes, new boss, a tutorial, enhanced power-up system. New artworks are available to transform a Darius Burst - Another Chronicle in EX version. As we are not able to test it in Europe, don't forget that Darius Burst - Another Chronicle is playable in London at Casino on Goodge Street.

Hatsune Miku Project DIVA Arcade Ver.A REVISION2 will be available tomorrow in Japan. This revision adds 14 new costumes for Miku & friends and as it's summer, everyone has a new swimsuit... Some new clothes come from Project DIVA 2nd (released on PSP in 2010 but still being updated). Five new songs were also added. IC cards used with REVISION2 are still compatible with REVISION1.

Sengoku Taisen 1570 : Devil of Shangluo is the title of Sengoku Taisen 1560 update that is out today. The war continues to ravage Japan. The daimyo Oda Nobunaga takes gradually the powers of the shogun Yoshiaki. This one forms an anti-Nobunaga alliance with other daimyo to stop his conquests. Nobunaga kills with no hesitation many civilians (mostly women and children) to achieve his goal and thus earns his nickname of Demon King. Two new forces appears in the game: Asai Asakura clan and Hongan-ji, a school of Buddhist monks. Kana Hanazawa and Tomokazu Sugita, two popular "seiyÅ«", double the new characters. A hundred new cards were made for this new edition, the former are of course still compatible. Balance adjustments were made â€‹â€‹to make the game easier to play and now the "sniping" function is available for firearms.

3D version of Let's Go Island - Lost on the Island of Tropics is available now in Japan. Let's Go Island 3D features two atypical characters: Beth, an unpopular girl and Zack, an useless guide, which will meet in an adventure filled with sea monsters, insects and other killers crustaceans. The main innovation is of course the 3D effect with no glasses required. Sega has opted for a stereoscopic 3D display: once inside the cabinet, the players are literally immersed in the action thanks to the 52" 3D screen but also because of the wind gusts blowing on their face. Gameplay is similar to the standard Let's Go Island: shooting the same enemies and passing mini-games with the action button will increase compatibility gauge between partners. Let's Go Island 3D runs on RingEdge.

Today is a sad day. Funland, the big arcade in the London Trocadero, closed its doors. The shutters were down for a week already but today we learned that the Funland may not reopen, at least not there. West End Amusements company which manages the Funland recently had some difficulties and has tried to renegotiate the terms of the lease. Month's rent was not paid on 1 July, the landlord decided two days later to cut the power and to chain the emergency exits. The next day, Jason Greenhalgh and Paul Stanley of Begbies Traynor were appointed joint administrators of West End Amusements. The offer is made to the landlord to pay for electricity supply so that the Funland remains open during the negotiations. The offer is refused. It is unlikely that Funland will reopen, resulting in the loss of 95 jobs. Funland was open since the 80's. It shared the building with SegaWorld from 1996 to 2000. At the close of the latter, it moved one floor up and has grown to occupy two floors of the former SegaWorld. Funland got 500 machines, bowling and a bumper car track. The property was used by manufacturers to test their latest (and future) titles. Since the closure, part of the music games have taken refuge in the basement of Las Vegas arcade located at 89-91 Wardour Street. For now, the landlord's motivations are unclear but it seems that the development of the upper floors of the building into a luxury hotel is no stranger to his decision. Hope that solutions will be quickly found with why not, a move to another location. (source: Coin-Op Community)

Battle Fantasia, developed by Arc System Works is out today on NESiCAxLive (Type X ²). The release date was originally scheduled to December 9 2010 but various time-cons have delayed the release. As a reminder, Battle Fantasia is a fighting game taking place in a fantasy world which characters and stages are in 3D but gameplay is like in 2D fighting games. It was released first in April 2007 on Type X² and was later adapted for consoles. It's Emiko Iwasaki, which was already art director and illustrator on Guilty Gear series, who was director during Battle Fantasia development.

Finals of the European qualify for the Tougeki 2011 took place this weekend at the Japan Expo in Paris, they were organized by the Versus Dojo. Here are the results: On Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, the eLive team composed of Belgian Kenpachi (Yun) and French Yamazaki93 (Ryu) will represent Europe at Tougeki 2011. On Sunday, they won against the Drive By French team (Valmaster (Chun-Li) and Adone (Sagat)). While the French-Belgian team KOF of Will2Pac (C. Viper) and CCL (Yun) finished third. On BlazBlue Continuum Shift II, French player Skyll won his ticket to Japan with his Ragna_the_Bloodedge. Ben and Overgames are ranked second and third respectively. Due to technical troubles, Super Street Fighter II X tournament is postponed to a later date in July. The King of Fighters XIII tournament was won by Salim. This one is not Tougeki related but qualifies for EVO 2011 which will be held in Las Vegas from July 29 to 31. This tournament will be organized aside from the official program because the organizers accept console versions only for their tournaments. This will prevent Namco Bandai from installing Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade machines at the event. Congratulations to Kenpachi, Yamazaki93 and Skyll! Our hopes go with you to the land of the rising sun! (source: Hit Combo)

Here's the final line-up of speakers at the DNA conference (for Digital out-of-home interactive entertainment Network Association). The keynote presentation will be given by Randy White of White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group. Gabi Salabi of Triotech Amusement will unveil the next interactive cinema 7Di XD Dark Ride. Benoit Cornet, CEO of Belgian company Alterface will present the new Interactive Dark Ride platform, Charles Voss from Trans-Force will outline the successes achieved by his company in the areas of interactive attractions and edutainment (educational entertainment). Arie Vered of EyeClick will demonstrate the latest interactive screens and will detail the possible uses of MotionAware technology and its future developments. Paul Collimore from Animalive will speak about the motion capture system used to make on-screen characters interact with the audience. Duncan Lawson of Instyle Fitness will discuss developments of ExerGaming (exercise video games) as used in fitness centres such as the Aerobike exercise bikes. Martin Charlton will talk about connectivity offered by Cisco, while Patrick Michael (head of Research & Development division at Sega Amusements Europe) will describe how they successfully adapted the console titles to arcade format (having worked with Codemasters and Sumo Digital). Finally, David Young, COO of BMI Gaming will share his observations on current trends and the future of distributors. These sessions will be moderated by Kevin Williams, a well-known amusement consultant and organizer of the event (with Martine Parry). The DNA conference will be held on July 14 at 1 Victoria Street Conference Centre in London (United Kingdom). It will begin at 10 am and will be followed by an evening reception. The number of participants is limited to 100 people but seats are still available at a price of £499. BMI Gaming offers a 40% discount on booking made before July 10. Use the code "SPEAK40" when registering to qualify.